


Lifesaver

by ochui



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mermaids, Alternate Universe - Underfell, Alternate Universe - Underswap, Ecto-Genitalia (Undertale), Ecto-Tongue (Undertale), Fisherman Papyrus, Fluff, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mute Sans, Underfell Papyrus (Undertale), Underfell Sans (Undertale), Underswap Papyrus (Undertale), Underswap Sans (Undertale), but now my freaky ass changing it to explicit, for the first few chapters at least, he'll learn eventually, mermaid sans, red and edge are both merskeles, theres no mermaid sex tag BUT THERES GONNA BE MERMAID SEX, when i first wrote this the original rating was teen and up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-06 00:33:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13399617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ochui/pseuds/ochui
Summary: Papyrus had just finished bringing in the last batch of fish from that morning's trip, and just when he thought his hard day of work was over, something started splashing around in the water.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> if you've been reading my last story, apologies for not updating!  
> i'm writing this in hopes of motivating myself to get the next chapter out.

The sun was almost set completely over the horizon, the once blue sky now a palette of orange and pink, the light reflecting off of fluffy clouds coating the sky. Seagulls were squawking as they soared through the air and out into the sea without a care in the world. The chiming of the bell rang back and forth when the boat had been docked at the harbor, dozens of men and women - both human and monster - hopping down from the boat and onto the wooden platform below them.

"Toss 'em down!" One of the lead members of the crew had called down once he'd jumped down from the boat, and the remaining passengers on the boat had begun dropping down decent sized nets of fish for each person to carry away. "Oi, Papyrus!" He called out again, looking over his shoulder at the skeleton in the back, slacking off to have his umpteenth cigarette of the day. "Quit yer slackin' and come help with the fish!"

Papyrus snapped out of his daze at the call of his name, raising a brow bone until he remembered his position, raising an index finger to excuse himself for another second, using his other hand to take the cigarette between his fingers after taking a long inhale of the last little bit of his cigarette, before tossing it to the ground and crushing it with his heel. 

Linking his phalanges and stretching his arms out in front of him, cracking his knuckles in the process, Papyrus let out a satisfied sigh, "catch a lot today?" He spoke out, voice husky from all of those damn cancer sticks; better be thankful he doesn't have lungs.

His co-worker shrugged, rolling up his sleeves, "Decent amount, but enough chit-chat," He clapped his hands, "C'mon, fish ain't gonna carry 'emselves." This guy was definitely no slacker when it came to his work, unlike Papyrus, who only groaned in response, rolling up his sleeves as well to get to work.

 

\----

 

Papyrus hadn't kept track of the time, but it was definitely late; the sun having gone down and the sky now a dark, dark, almost black blue, twinkling stars coating it, the only light filling up the area was from the street lamps. One more net of fish was tossed down to him, and he got it with an ' _oof_ ' and a bend at the knees, arms almost giving out from a full days worth of hauling loads of fish back and forth; he was just about ready to pass out right then and there.

The lanky skeleton carried the fish back to the truck, tossing it in with a huff and then retreating to swipe a hand across his forehead, a thin layer of sweat coating the bone. "that's the last of 'em!" He called out to the driver in the front seat, giving the back of the truck a few hits to signal him, and the engine started rumbling, the driver giving him a thumbs up through the window.

It wasn't very hard to tell just how tired Papyrus was; dark bags under his sockets, shirt buttoned down, suspenders hanging off his sides, the guy looked like he ran a marathon.

Papyrus gave an exhausted sigh, stepping back and hopping down from the dock and onto the sandy beach on the side, sitting himself down in the sand and against a large rock. Tilting his skull back, he found himself relaxed whilst he shut his eyes, still breathing heavily from a practical workout. Keeping his eyes shut, Papyrus lazily reached into his shirt pocket, pulling out yet  _another_ cigarette from the already opened packet tucked in safely.

Popping the cigarette between his teeth, he reached into his pants pocket to pull out his metal lighter, flicking it open and raising it up to the cigarette to light it.

Once it had been lit, he inhaled deeply, taking a long drag, and well deserved might you add. He held his breath, enjoying the burn of the smoke swirling around in his rib cage; a borderline tingly feeling. When he figured he'd had enough, Papyrus parted his teeth and relaxed, opening up his eyes to watch the smoke release and dispel into the air.

Another crew member had just finished up their work as well, tugging off the rubber gloves they wore through their messy work as they walked down the dock, before noticing Papyrus and they stopped in their tracks, "Hey, Papyrus, you headin' home?" They raised a brow, "It's getting pretty late, don't stay out too long, yeah?"

Papyrus looked at them and gave them a nod, "sure, i'll head home soon." He gave them a wink and they left with that, giving him a small wave before leaving his sight. Papyrus sighed, slouching further against the rock and raising the cigarette back to his teeth, "s'not like sans is home," he took another drag of the cigarette. His younger brother was on 'vacation'; now that they were on the surface, there was much more to explore and Sans made sure that he would.

After another second of thinking, he sighed, shaking his head and standing up, "nah, it's late, gotta work early." Although he was talking to nobody but himself, he found a comfort in speaking aloud to himself rather than sticking with silent thoughts. The silence could be very loud sometimes.

Papyrus dusted the sand off of himself, finishing off the last drag of his cigarette and then tossing the butt to the ground. He could practically hear his little brother's voice screaming at him about littering and how bad it is for the environment, blah blah blah. The lanky skeleton rolled his eyes at that, grabbing his coat that he'd left hung over the edge of the dock, and slipped it on over his form.

Rubbing his eye sockets with a yawn, Papyrus made his way across the sand to reach the road where his car sat.

It was peaceful, the light crunching of the sand underneath his boots when he'd sink into it with every step, the waves of the ocean lightly swaying, the violent trashing of water near- wait, no, that's not very peaceful.

The sudden sound of something splashing around in the water got Papyrus turning around on his heel, raising a brow bone towards the ocean. It had taken him a moment to look around, but a few feet out into the sea, where a few large rocks rest, he'd spotted the faint red glow.

 


	2. Chapter 2

"what the..." Papyrus murmured to himself, and began to walk his way towards it, curiosity getting the best of him. Whatever had been freaking out there obviously didn't notice he was coming, considering their lack of trying to hide themselves or stop their movements to make them less noticeable to the stranger. Papyrus stopped at the edge of the ocean, looking down where the water would move slowly up the shore, and then back into itself.

Whatever - or whoever - it was, he could tell that they were struggling, letting off faint grunts and whines while they moved around.

_They needed help._

"ugh." Papyrus' instincts crept in, Sans' voice chiming in once more telling him to help the poor thing. His hand was about to head for his pocket to pull out his phone, thinking about using the flashlight, but he  _was_ heading into the ocean, and it'd be a real shame if his phone fell into the water. He decided not to risk it. There was a flashlight on the dock, Papyrus quickly headed over to it, grabbing it by the handle and head back over to the shore.

Placing the flashlight on the ground, Papyrus pulled off his coat and tossed it far from the shore and into the sand, before kneeling down and rolling his pants up just until they were below his knees. The thrashing in the water continued, along with painful whines and odd clicking sounds.

Papyrus took a deep breath and made his way through the water; thankfully the rocks where the... - person? creature? ... thing? - where the  _thing_ was, weren't too far away, and he didn't have to walk out too far. Once he figured he'd gotten close enough, the water almost reaching where his pants had been rolled up - good thing for his long legs - he flicked on his flashlight and shined it around the rocks to take a look at whatever was caught there.

"holy shit." Papyrus blurted out, feeling like his eyes were playing tricks on him but this was as real as it could get. There, thrashing around in the water and caught up in what seemed to be some old shredded rope and seaweed, was another skeleton, upper body all scarred and scratched bones yet the lower half was... a  _tail._ A dimly glowing, bright red tail, only guessing it was made of magic considering its slight translucency, allowing Papyrus to see tail made of bone inside. It was kind of gorgeous, actually, besides what looked to be some sort of puncture by what could have been anything; a harpoon, a hook, either way it was injured pretty badly, magic seeping from the wound and spreading out into the water.

When the mermaid- skeleton... merskeleton? No, just skeleton. When the other  _skeleton_ looked towards the light, he quickly looked away and his voice practically broke out into a  _scream,_ before giving off more of those clicking sounds into the ocean, echoing off of the waves. Must have been trying to call for something.

Papyrus panicked and quickly turned off his light, placing it on top of one of the rocks and came a little closer, "hey, hey! shh, relax!" He bent down, trying to get his hands on the tail, but in response it would only start flicking around and end up splashing him. So much for staying dry.

The taller skeleton grit his teeth, groaning in annoyance whilst still trying to calm the smaller, having to press his hand down at the base of the tail to hold it in the water, which also meant he had to kneel completely in the water, getting his pants soaking wet.

"i'm not gonna hurt you for fucks sake," He kept his eyes on the panicked skeleton, who only stared at him in response with a both angry and scared expression. This skeleton looked an awful lot like his brother, but seemed like he'd gotten into a lot more violent mishaps; a crack going up his right socket and over his skull, which met the root of a sharp, golden tooth, complimenting all of the other shark-like teeth. Inside those dark, angry sockets, were bright red eyelights in long and thin slits. He looked so dangerous yet so beautiful at the same time.

Despite the lack of lungs, the smaller skeleton took quick and harsh breaths, wanting to pull away each time Papyrus leaned in to help him. Papyrus kept an eye on him, moving his hand ever so slowly, "you're hurt, yeah? if you keep freakin' out, i can't help you, do you understand?" He tried to speak as calmly as possible, but the other didn't respond or move.

Papyrus frowned, "can you speak?" He said. Still no reply or movement, yet the smaller skeleton seemed to still himself, still tense but wasn't thrashing around. Papyrus sighed, hanging his head momentarily, and then looking back up, "well, even if ya can't speak, 'm only guessing you can still understand me, yeah? i ain't gonna hurt you, promise." He kept his eyes trained on the other while he leaned back in, moving his hands slowly up the tail to the rope and seaweed where it had been trapped.

The smaller skeleton almost jerked away, but tried to keep still, the tip of his tail only gently swishing side to side in the water, the luminescent red glow moving around underneath the ripples of the water.

Papyrus fixed his eyes on the open wound in the tail, red magic still seeping out and into the water, and his brow bone furrowed at the sight, "look, i'm not a doctor, but i have a friend that might be able to help you with that if you're willing to let me get you outta this mess." He gave the other a small, but genuine smile, hands still working on tugging apart the pieces of rope.

 

-

 

It was definitely a process, having to figure out where the rope ended and where it started, trying to untangle little bits that had gotten stuck in itself, and all of that around a tail that couldn't seem to keep itself still for more than five seconds.

Once all of the rope was discarded and tossed onto the sand by the shore, Papyrus leaned in to pick up the other skeleton, but once he'd gotten close enough, the other began thrashing around and began making that odd clicking sound again, turning his head out into the ocean while he did so. Papyrus flinched from the loud noise and placed his hands onto the others shoulders, "shh! relax! remember what i told you? i'm not gonna hurt you, i just need to make sure you're okay."

The smaller's voice died down as he looked at Papyrus, who stared back at him with so much care that he'd never seen before. This man was a complete stranger, why was he helping him for no apparent reason?

He let Papyrus take his shoulders and pull him upright gently, and Papyrus cleared his throat, "alright, i'm gonna pick you up, and i'm gonna carry you back to my car, yeah?" He spoke slowly, needing the other to understand him so he wouldn't feel as though he were in danger, "i'll take you back to my place, make sure your wound here is alright. i'm gonna take care of you for the night, don't worry." Papyrus gave him another smile.

Papyrus was someone who you wouldn't look at and instantly think of him as the protective and caring type, but after reliving your life so many times, having to see the same terrible shit happen over and over, along with having to look after your baby brother all by yourself through your whole childhood, Papyrus kept those good traits deep down in his soul.

"c'mere." Papyrus spoke as he placed a hand on the smaller skeletons spine, sitting him up while he hooked one arm underneath the tail, and the other wrapped around his torso, "arms around my neck, i gotcha." He spoke and lifted him up, earning a surprised sound from the other who instantly clung to him for dear life.

Papyrus snickered and stood himself up from his crouching position, "so, y'got a name?-" realization hit him, "right, can't speak, uhh," he thought to himself whilst he walked out of the water and back to the beach, eyes running along the tail he was holding onto, "how's about... i call ya red? red sound good?" He raised a brow bone at the other, who seemed to be looking at him with wide eyes the entire time they walked.

Clearing his throat, he continued, "not very original, i know, but a lot of people call my little brother 'blue' because of the way he dresses and stuff like that, so, i thought red might be suitable considering your tail and... yeah, suits you." He grinned, but the silence just made it feel like another conversation with himself, figuring it was pointless to try to speak to the other.

His grin fell blank and he looked away, kneeling back down into the sand where he'd slipped off his jacket. Papyrus gently placed Red down onto the sand, unwrapping his arms for a moment to grab the jacket, but the other skeleton didn't seem to want to let go of him, keeping his arms securely around Papyrus' neck.

When Papyrus realized that Red didn't plan on letting go of him any time soon, he let out a sigh, letting his head hang, "i can't put the jacket on ya if you won't let go of me, sweetheart." He said whilst placing his hands onto Red's arms, trying to pull them away, which only pulled out a borderline  _shriek_ from the other skeleton, and Papyrus nearly jumped from the sudden loud noise.

"alright, alright! relax!" He was quick to shush the other skeleton, wrapping an arm securely around his waist in an attempt to assure him he wasn't leaving, which is what Red seemed to be afraid of currently. 

Instead, he decided to just drape the jacket over the smaller skeleton instead of actually making him wear it, a long sigh passing his teeth, "jeez, first ya didn't even want me touchin' you, now you don't wanna let go." He chuckled, but the other didn't respond.

Chuckle fading off, he cleared his non-existent throat once more, "alright, up ya go." Papyrus said through a groan while he brought one arm back under the base of Red's tail, keeping the other around his torso and picking him back up into his arms while he stood up, and began to walk along the sand.

Keeping his eyes forward, Papyrus started up a conversation, even though it seemed more to be him just talking to himself, but it was better than the silence.

"i wonder what sans is gonna think when he sees you," he frowned, but shook his head, "nah, i'm sure he'll think you're real cool lookin'." His frown turned into a grin, eyeing the merskeleton before back forward, "that is if you're even still here by the time he gets back from vacation, i'm pretty sure once your tail heals up and you can move around again, you'll be fine to go back where you belong. can't really keep something that belongs in the ocean."

He began to eye at Red again, only to continuously catch the other staring at him with wide eyes, like he was something the other had never seen before. Well, it was partially true, but they were both skeletons at the same time, weren't there more of Red's kind? There's no way there weren't. Papyrus had legs instead of a tail though, that's probably something Red's never seen before.

Papyrus was about to say something cheesy, along the lines of if there was something on his face, or if he was just too good looking, but it was pointless against someone who couldn't even understand him. Could Red understand him? Or did he just not know how to speak? Either way, he'd spare himself the embarrassment.

The lankier skeleton was thankful that the other was smaller than him, otherwise it probably would have taken him a lot longer to carry Red up the pathway that lead out into the road where he'd parked his car, and thankfully his legs didn't give out on him half way through the walk. Once they'd made it onto the road, Red's stare finally tore away from Papyrus' face and the merskeleton began staring up and down the road, at the streetlights, towards the lights of the city. He'd never been on land before, it was like he was in a whole different world.

Papyrus was too busy focusing on getting them to his car, before he heard Red make another sound, it wasn't a click like he'd heard from him earlier, it sounded like a mixture of a coo and a purr almost, his red eyelights glued onto the lights of the city, and Papyrus looked down at him, snickering, "pretty, ain't it? a lot prettier right before the sun goes down, sun shines off'a it just right."

Papyrus couldn't imagine what it's like living in the ocean, there's no doubt that it's borderline pitch black down there at night, full of predators, isn't it scary? He felt like asking, but maybe he'd save that for another day if he could manage to teach Red how to talk.

Red didn't even look at Papyrus when he spoke, he was too entranced by the city lights, he'd never seen anything like it before. Sure, he'd seen the light from the sun, and had come up to the surface numerous times to look at it - with his brother there, of course, he would never go to the surface alone - but these lights were unlike anything he'd ever seen. Not only were they bright, but they were different colors! 

He wanted to know more about them, but he got snapped out of his thoughts at an odd sound, Papyrus' car unlocking manually with the button on his keys, and he quickly went back to stare up at the taller skeleton.

Papyrus looked down at him, "what? the sound?" He raised a brow bone, looking back down at his key chain, pressing on the unlock button once more, and the car springing to life once more with the sound. It almost made Red jump, but Papyrus only chuckled, "don't worry, the car ain't gonna hurt you either."

It was a little difficult, but Papyrus had to shift his position around so he could open up the passenger side to get Red into the car; lifting one leg up and unhooking his arm out from underneath Red's tail, letting the base now rest on his bent up leg, trying to hold onto the smaller skeleton as securely as he could whilst leaning over the large tail all at the same time just to tug on the handle of the door, before proceeding to shove it open with his foot, and regaining his previous position with his arm under Red's tail.

"woo, alright, i'm gonna put you down, okay?" He very slowly began to lean down into the doorway of the car to place Red down, talking him through it, "i'm not leaving you, i'm gonna get in on the other side and i'll be right beside you in just a second, but i can't hold you while i'm drivin', alright, sweetheart?" He made sure to give Red a moment to process what he had said, before taking in a deep breath, "okay, gonna put you down now."

Again, Red just stared at him silently, but didn't thrash around or flip out like he did before.

Papyrus put him down in the car seat as slowly and gently as he could manage, having to adjust his fairly long tail around at the bottom, but found no luck without having to bend the tail in an uncomfortable way, and he didn't want Red to feel uncomfortable. He settled with flopping the tail up on the dash, figuring it was the most simple way to comfortably rest the tail.

He made sure Red was sitting up against the back of the seat correctly, and leaned in a bit more to grab onto the seat belt, having to warn him again just in case, "you're gonna feel a little constricted, but it ain't too tight, it's just to make sure that you don't go flyin' out the window." He laughed it off, slowly securing the belt across Red's rib cage and locking it into place. Thank god that went well.

Papyrus felt like he was trying to buckle in a child for the first time, but it was progress. He let out a tired breath, stepping back and standing back up straight, "i'll be on the other side in a second." He said and tried his hardest not to slam the door shut, not wanting to spook the merskeleton.

Keeping his word, Papyrus quickly headed over to the other side of the car, opening it up and bending down to sit himself down, shutting the door at his side and not even bothering to buckle himself in before starting the car. He hardly ever wore his seat belt, and it annoyed Sans greatly, always scolding his older brother for driving unsafely, flailing his arms and shouting different scenarios that could happen on the road. Papyrus knew his little brother was just looking out for him.

Once the engine of the car began to rumble to life, Papyrus leaned back in his chair, "alright, let's rock n' roll." He eyed Red from the corner of his eye, who was staring out the window and back at the city. Papyrus couldn't help but smile, looking back to the road and letting his phalanges curl around the steering wheel, keeping the silence between the two as he began driving down the road and on their way home.

**Author's Note:**

> comments, kudos, and requests for other works are always appreciated!


End file.
